Re: Repairman in a can?

From: andrew (quadrix_at_optushome.com)
Date: 09/04/04

  • Next message: James Logajan: "Administrivia: Welcome to sci.nanotech!" 
    Date: 4 Sep 2004 14:41:41 GMT

    Its a cool idea. Getting back the sprayed on bots might be a bit tricky,
    considering some of them might be sprayed past the opject, and float around
    in droplet form for a while, before being breathed, filtered or blown out
    the window.
    Maybe rather than spray it on, the nanobots are in a tank of inert liquid,
    like freon, and you dip in your broken thingamajig. Electrify the liquid, or
    activate it with ultrasound or RF, or add nutrients to start the repairs.

    There are a few common faults in electric equipment:
    Dry solder joints -- melt and rejoin the solder (370 degrees required) or
    bridge with carbon nanotubes.
    Burnt out power drivers such as mosfets or transistors -- The structure of
    the SiO2 and doped Si gets badly damaged when a short occurs, and to
    re-structure the chips substrate would take quite a bit of energy. Would
    take a while if you do it at low tempereatures. Have to leave it in the bath
    for ...days?
    Shorts from foreign objects-- detect and bond fibres to the foreign objects.
    Tighten the fibres to drag out the objects.
    Capacitor electrolyte leakage -- Refill the electrolyte
    Battery failure/leakage/recharge/corrosion -- clean up the mess and energy
    to charge in the battery.
    "OhWiseone" <nanotech@voyle.net> wrote in message
    news:cdjem901n3v@enews3.newsguy.com...
    >
    > Nice stuff Rory,
    >
    > If you would like to air more of your ideas contact me at Nano Tsunami
    > Dot Com.
    >
    > We are looking for people like yourself to write "tree shaking "
    > articles like this to move the idea's debate on.
    > Contact me at nanotech@voyle.net
    >
    > www.nano-tsunami.com
    >
    >
    > Rory McLean <rory@romsys.demon.co.uk> wrote in message
    > news:<cd6hld015f4@enews1.newsguy.com>...
    > > For a long while after the arrival of nanotech there will be
    > > legacy equipment that people will want to use. Yes, there may
    > > well be more efficient alternatives, but, these will be familiar.
    > >
    > > These will include white goods such as fridges, cookers and
    > > washing machines.
    > >
    > > Now, we are often told that these days that there is no point in
    > > repairing these, just junk them and get a new one; cost of
    > > replacement is frequently comparable to cost of repair.
    > >
    > > This is a terrible waste of resources, as many parts of these
    > > devices are likely to be quite servicable, and the waste
    > > involved, including transport costs, even if these parts are all
    > > recycled, seems quite horrendous.
    > >
    > > Nanotech would seem an ideal way of doing on-the-spot repairs.
    > >
    > >
    > > If we assume that you buy a "can of nanobots", which includes all
    > > the resources needed to power and control them, and materials to
    > > do a wide range of common repairs, would this be a good idea?
    > >
    > > The nanobots would ideally have a full spec of the item they are
    > > to repair, and the standard repair process; if they don't, could
    > > they explore the item and determine what it was like originally,
    > > and what needs to be done to repair it?
    > >
    > > Would the nanobots all return to the can, carrying back any that
    > > broke down on the job, as well as any materials that should not
    > > be in the repaired item, so as to do a proper clean up?
    > >
    > > Could the can consult the Internet, or whatever, to get the
    > > manufacturers spec of the item to be repaired?
    > >
    > > Might a single can be good for a number of repairs?
    > >
    > >
    > > The model used here is that until a good understanding is
    > > developed of the interaction of nanotech and the environment, a
    > > good initial approach is to leave any area in which nanotech is
    > > used "nano clean" afterwards.
    > >
    > > In particular, any active nanotech doesn't leave any even
    > > potentially active nanotech behind.
    >

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